Light-emitting diode components including one or more light-emitting diode chips (LED chips; LED: “light-emitting diode”) in a housing, so-called LED packages, and lighting modules including LED chips, which are also designated as light engines, are used in a multiplicity of display and lighting applications. However, customary light-emitting diode components often have component parts which tend toward degradation of desired properties in an environment including, for example, oxygen gas, hydrogen sulfide and/or exhibiting moisture and/or having a high temperature. Such component parts susceptible to degradation may be, for example, the LED chips, silicone used as housing or potting material, a mirror material such as, for instance, silver and/or a phosphor for wavelength conversion.
In order to avoid for example the degradation of silver mirror layers by oxidation or other chemical reactions with ambient gases and reliability problems associated therewith, silver with an admixture of an additive that reduces the degradation is usually used rather than pure silver, even though pure silver has a higher reflectivity.
Phosphors which are advantageous with regard to their emission spectrum and which degrade for example as a result of oxygen and/or moisture cannot be used at the present time.
By contrast, customary LED packages and light engines in which silicone is used have to be operated at temperatures that are typically below approximately 150° C., in order to avoid thermo-oxidation and further crosslinking of the silicone.